A Dark, Moody, and Better Steve Angello

Last April, when I was on my way to Coachella, I received an email from Steve Angello‘s PR people recommending I catch his set, promising a drastically changed sound and a much darker tone. Despite that promise, I held onto the formula of Steve Angello = Big Room, which does not align with anything I like to listen to, so I disregarded the email.

Imagine my surprise this week when his new track ‘Rejoice’ came up in a new release playlist, prompting me to guess it maybe Jean Michel Jarre or Gesaffelstein track. Nope. A whiplash-inducing double-take later and I was just dumbfounded.

I don’t like being wrong, except in cases like this where it means I get good music as a tradeoff. The pair of songs accompanies the announcement of a new, three-part album signifying different parts of his life. ‘Rejoice’ and ‘Breaking Kind’ will be included on Part I – Genesis. So, in a way, they are the beginning of an announcement about the album that is about his beginning.

For me, ‘Rejoice’ is the highlight by far, with somber, ethereal organs dropping into marching synth and percussion lines and back, overlaid by a poignant sermon by TD Jakes. If you’re not familiar with Jakes, well, you better brace yourself.

Keep an eye on Steve Angello’s Spotify page to receive new songs as they’re added each month. Listen to the new tracks on Spotify below or head here for a link to the tracks on other streaming platforms.